Mary Victoria Majure Souder

It is with tremendous sorrow but joyful memories that we share the news of our mother's death on May 6, 2024.

Mary Victoria Majure Souder died from complications from dementia, surrounded by her loving family. She had been looking forward to being reunited with her beloved husband Bill, and many friends and family who await her arrival.

Vickie was born in the heat of the summer in Sebastopol, Mississippi on July 1, 1935. She was the cherished youngest of twelve children born to Charles and Oonie Bell Majure. She had an idyllic childhood in a picturesque farm house on a large wooded plot of land.

When she was just ten years old, her parents tragically died within a year of one another. Vickie was raised by her beloved brother, Wallace Majure, nineteen years her senior, and his darling wife, Margarett, who with great excitement sent her to Mary Washington College where she majored in Psychology and enjoyed the unique Southern college life of balls and May Queens.

Vickie met Dad, William Granger Souder, in 1957 when he took her on a date in his handsome Chris Craft runabout boat, which promptly broke down. She always maintained he did that to spend more time with her. It worked. Bill and Vickie were married on November 15, 1958, the first couple to be married in the new chapel of Christ Presbyterian Church. They honeymooned in Harbour Island at the Pink Sands Resort where their names remain in the guest book, with Dad listing the address of his bachelor pad, which is crossed out in Vickie's hand, and replaced with the address of their new marital home. Vickie and Bill, who proclaimed ‘My life did not begin until I met you’, lived a beautiful, charmed life together until he died October 29, 2008.

To Vickie, family always came first. She set high standards for her children and supported them in every way, yet never let them off the hook. She was an excellent cook and exquisite entertainer, who developed a strong and loyal group of friends and families in the community. Yet she always found the time to devote to community service. She had endless energy and a unique ability to generate enthusiasm and pull people together for an important community cause.

Some of her noteworthy contributions were through service organizations such as the Junior League of Toledo, the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, WGTE public television. Through the Arts Commission, Vickie was instrumental in the creation of ToledoFest on the riverfront celebrating the performing arts and led the opening gala of the Portside Festival Marketplace as part of a downtown redevelopment effort. She was particularly proud of her involvement with other community leaders in the renovation of the Valentine Theater, through her Chairmanship of the Toledo Cultural Arts Committee, which was charged with establishing a venue for a local performing arts center. She served on the Valentine Board for a decade following its 1999 opening. Vickie also was involved in the Toledo Museum of Art, joining the Museum Aides in 1984, serving as the Aides/Ambassador president, the 50th Anniversary steering committee and the Membership Campaign.

Vickie was an avid athlete, competing in tennis and paddle tennis tournaments as an active member of several local clubs, including the Toledo Tennis Club, Toledo Country Club and L’Arbre Croche Club.

Once at a ladies’ luncheon on the waterfront of Harbor Springs, Vickie spotted her 13 year old son sailing alone into the harbor on a sunfish, from the family’s cottage more than three miles away. She politely excused herself from the engagement, removed her shoes, hiked up her dress and sailed with him back to the cottage, and promptly grounded him for a week.

Later in life she took up golf and swam regularly well into her ‘80s. Vickie was often seen in her tennis whites or swooping down the slopes in her signature racoon coat, and insisted on joining the family down a treacherously steep sledding hill in her ‘70s, howling in delight. Always game, she thought nothing of canoeing to dinner with the family.

Vickie was an extraordinary force of nature. She lit up a room, any room, upon walking in, and her energy for her family, friends, sports, travel and projects that interested her was boundless. She loved music, had a beautiful voice, playing the ukulele and guitar at many jolly gatherings over the years. We will miss her every day for the remainder of our lives.

Vickie is survived by her children: William Granger Souder Jr. (Kathi), Elizabeth Wallace Souder Louis (Jeffry), Anne Franklin Souder von Weise (Charles) and Edward Hall Souder (Lori), and her wonderful love-of-life lives on in her twelve adoring grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, August 11, 2024, from 2-4 p.m. at Toledo Country Club, 3949 River Toad, Toledo, Ohio, with remarks at 3 p.m.  In lieu of flowers, we suggest you pause for a moment and think of a memory of Vickie that makes you smile. Or, give as you wish in Vickie's memory to the Toledo Museum of Art (https://toledomuseum.org/donate), Ottawa Hills Foundation (https://www.ottawahillsfoundation.org/), or the Valentine Theatre (https://www.valentinetheatre.com/). Services were entrusted to Walker Funeral Home, Toledo.